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Drama DVDs

Weeds - Season Two

Sales Rank:708
List Price: $29.98
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

AC-3
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Director(s):

Burr Steers
Tucker Gates

Actor(s):

The first season of Weeds ended with a shocker: Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) found a dreamy new boyfriend, but he turned out to be a DEA agent (Martin Donovan). Luckily, she manages to find some pretty creative ways to "deal" with it. Despite that new obstacle, she decides it’s also time to "grow" the business to higher levels, and all these risky moves lead up to another fabulous season finale cliff-hanger. Elsewhere in suburban utopia, comic relieving brother-in-law Andy (Justin Kirk) tries to dodge his army commitments by joining Rabbi school, while the hilarious Doug (Kevin Nealon) battles it out with Celia (Elizabeth Perkins) to maintain power over the Agrestic City Council. Plot aside, Season 2 of Weeds took this potentially great show to the next level. No matter how hard they tried in the first season, the show’s makers had a heck of a time trying to shake the impression that they were mimicking the edginess of HBO’s original programming. (Some might have gone as far as to say they were trying a little too hard.) This time around, the characters and the story have grown into their own skins, and they offer something much more authentic and convincing. The second season also starts a great new tradition: Malvina Reynolds ‘s "Little Boxes" is still the opening theme song, but it is performed by a different artist for each episode (from Elvis Costello to The Shins). Just one more thing to keep us "addicted." --Jordan Thompson

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The Complete Thin Man Collection (The Thin Man / After the Thin Man / Another Thin Man / Shadow of the Thin Man / The Thin Man Goes Home / Song of the Thin Man / Alias Nick and Nora)

Sales Rank:857
List Price: $59.98
Lowest New Price: $34.81
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

Box set
Black & White
Digital Sound
NTSC

Director(s):

Basil Wrangell
Tex Avery
Jules Dassin

Actor(s):

William Powell
Myrna Loy
Clancy Cooper
Chick York
John Nesbitt

Almost as welcome as a shaker full of martinis, The Complete Thin Man Collection represents an eagerly awaited DVD milestone for fans of the fizzy MGM movie series. The best film in the series came first: The Thin Man (1934), W.S. Van Dyke's marvelous adaptation of a Dashiell Hammet novel. The movie gods were in a generous mood when they paired William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, the upper-class sophisticates whose sleuthing escapades somehow joined the classic form of the whodunit with the giddyup of screwball comedy. Among the series' many attributes, one of its most radical notions was the idea that a married couple might find each other delightful and view life as a goofy adventure together.

It is common wisdom that the Thin Man sequels adhere to the law of diminishing returns, and while none of the follow-ups reach the diamond level of the first film, all afford pleasures. There's the cocktail-swilling chemistry of Powell and Loy, for one thing, as well as the considerable satisfaction of average movies made during the studio system: the craftsmanship of studio hands, and a gallery of terrific character actors filling in supporting roles. First sequel After the Thin Man (1936) is very good, with the couple in San Francisco and a supporting part for rising player James Stewart. The scenery moves again, to Long Island, for the rather impudently-titled Another Thin Man (1939), which adds baby Nick, Jr., to the mix (a "bad idea," thought Pauline Kael, perhaps a sign of the domestication of the series).

Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) sets the action around a racetrack, and is the last of the series to be directed by the fast-working Van Dyke. The Thin Man Goes Home (1944) finds Nick escorting family to his parents' house for a visit. Song of the Thin Man (1947) engagingly adds a jazz milieu to the Charles's detective work; at this point, Nick, Jr. was played by child star Dean Stockwell. The series stuck with certain staples: the unveiling of the guilty party, a wirehaired terrier named Asta (who became a star in its own right), and booze. When Nick opines, in the first film, that a dry martini should always be shaken to "waltz time," you know why audiences fell in love with these guilt-free comedies. --Robert Horton

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The Nativity Story

Sales Rank:933
List Price: $19.98
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

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Director(s):

Actor(s):

Keisha Castle-Hughes
Oscar Isaac
Hiam Abbass
Shaun Toub
Ciarán Hinds

The Nativity Story is a remarkable, if frustratingly restrained, act of imagining the tale of Christ's birth as a flesh-and-blood drama actually set in Israel two millenia ago. Written by Mike Rich (Finding Forrester) and directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen), the film makes very strong impressions in a scene-by-scene way. Beginning with the slaughter (bloodlessly portrayed; this is a PG movie) of Bethlehem’s innocents under orders from a paranoid King Herod (a dark and knowing Ciarán Hinds), the film then jumps back a year to the prophecy that informs Zechariah (Stanley Townsend) that his wife, Elizabeth (Shohreh Aghdashloo), will bear a child. Meanwhile, Elizabeth's cousin, the adolescent Mary (Keisha Castle-Hughes), struggles with her family to make ends meet and is promised to the carpenter Joseph (Oscar Isaac). Soon comes word to Mary, via an angel, that she will carry, while still a virgin, the long-awaited Messiah who will liberate the Jews from Herod and his Roman benefactors. Thus begins a detailed account of Joseph and Mary's hard travel to Bethlehem, while three Magi spend months crossing the desert trying to rendezvous with some point below the convergence of three heavenly bodies in the night sky. Hardwicke and Rich anchor all this in period detail, though what proves most moving are relationship nuances, especially the friendship and trust that emerge between Mary and Joseph after he is told in a dream that she speaks truthfully about her miraculous pregnancy. While The Nativity Story should appeal to almost anyone as a straightforward narrative, it is far from a secular version of the familiar Biblical tale, and thus feels a bit stifled. It might have been nice if the film could have breathed a little more with imagination, but The Nativity Story makes up for it by ingeniously weaving hints of things to come, later in Christ's life, into the action. --Tom Keogh

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Fireproof

Sales Rank:57
List Price: $28.96
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Format:

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Director(s):

Actor(s):

Kirk Cameron
Jason McLeod
Erin Bethea
Ken Bevel
Stephen Dervan

A feel-good drama, Fireproof has a strong agenda: stay married, lead an honest life, and let your faith in a higher power help guide you. A still boyish-looking Kirk Cameron (Growing Pains) stars as Caleb Holt, a mercurial-tempered firefighter whose marriage is on the rocks. He clearly enjoys his status as a hero, but it comes at the expense of his marriage. His wife Catherine (Erin Bethea) is tired of being along in their relationship and wants him to devote more time to their family. When she points out that he has worked 43 days straight--three days longer than his required time--Caleb says, "That's doesn't mean I have to stop." To a certain extent, the film examines whether Caleb can stop. In the finite sense, of course he can. All he has to do it pack up and head home. But emotionally stunted to a certain degree, Caleb can't. The third film by brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick, Fireproof is the siblings' most polished feature. Cameron does a fine job of making Caleb real and believable, even when we're not always liking him. Though saddled at times with maudlin lines, Cameron adds emotion and range to his role. There is a not so subtle theme that the Holts--who at the beginning of the film are agnostic--needed religion to save their marriage. Clearly, Fireproof believes in its agenda and was made with the Christian audience in mind. Whether secular audiences will fall under its spell as well is debatable. But no one should walk away from the film offended. --Jae-Ha Kim

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Deadwood: The Complete Series

Sales Rank:908
List Price: $179.97
Lowest New Price: $96.00
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

Box set
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Ian McShane
Timothy Olyphant

Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 12/09/2008 Rating: Nr

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Casablanca

Sales Rank:276
List Price: $19.98
Lowest New Price: $9.05
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Format:

Black & White
Digital Sound
NTSC
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Director(s):

Actor(s):

Humphrey Bogart
Ingrid Bergman
Paul Henreid
Claude Rains
Conrad Veidt

A truly perfect movie, the 1942 Casablanca still wows viewers today, and for good reason. Its unique story of a love triangle set against terribly high stakes in the war against a monster is sophisticated instead of outlandish, intriguing instead of garish. Humphrey Bogart plays the allegedly apolitical club owner in unoccupied French territory that is nevertheless crawling with Nazis; Ingrid Bergman is the lover who mysteriously deserted him in Paris; and Paul Heinreid is her heroic, slightly bewildered husband. Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Conrad Veidt are among what may be the best supporting cast in the history of Hollywood films. This is certainly among the most spirited and ennobling movies ever made. --Tom Keogh

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Prison Break - Season Two

Sales Rank:169
List Price: $59.98
Lowest New Price: $18.99
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

Full Screen
Box set
Color
Dolby

Director(s):

Bobby Roth
Bryan Spicer
Dwight H. Little
Eric Laneuville
Greg Yaitanes

Actor(s):

Dominic Purcell
Wentworth Miller
Amaury Nolasco
Robert Knepper
Wade Williams

At the close of Prison Break's terrific season 1, the motley crew of convicts successfully accomplished the title. So naturally, season 2 becomes about the manhunt, where the best-laid plans of Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller)--concealed in his body tattoo with his escape route and hinted at throughout last season--get thrown for a loop. First, he and his convicted brother Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) are torn between fleeing the country and staying to clear Lincoln's name, which draws them deeper into a conspiracy that surpasses even the President of the United States (Patricia Wettig). Second, they're simultaneously pursued by Agent Kellerman (a terrific Paul Adelstein); prison warden Bellick (Wade Williams), now a bounty hunter; and a new pursuer: FBI agent Alexander Mahone (William Fichtner in all his bug-eyed glory), whose intelligence makes him a worthy foe to Michael, and whose pill-popping habit makes him just unstable enough to be interesting. There's also a new sinister lackey for the Company named Bill Kim (Reggie Lee, whose constant grimacing smile is a result of being instructed to act like a "customer service representative" while arranging for characters to be killed off, the actor reveals in commentary). Meanwhile, the other escapees scatter across the county, eluding the FBI as they try to reunite with their loved ones--Abruzzi (Peter Stormare), C-Note (Rockmond Dunbar), and Sucre (Amaury Nolasco)--or settle scores (in the case of T-Bag, played by Robert Knepper). But lest you think the series will split in 10 different directions, there's always the money hidden in Utah by fellow prisoner Westmoreland that will eventually lead them to cross paths again.

Season 2, taking place outside prison walls, doesn't have the claustrophobic tension of season 1; instead, it becomes one long Fugitive-esque chase, which lost interest every time it kept shifting to different characters' storylines. There are more baits-and-switches than you'd care to keep track of, and more than a little suspended disbelief. But the intriguing center of the drama will always be the way Michael's forced to think on his feet when his grand plans hit their snags, whereas in Fox River he was most assuredly in control (it also forces Miller's stoic acting to loosen up a little). Moreover, his unexpected feelings for Dr. Sara Tancredi (Sarah Wayne Callies), who was found overdosed in her apartment at the end of season 1, further complicates Michael's disappearance plans. The DVD includes several candid commentaries by cast members and show creators, and an Easter egg that alludes to the "death wall" (number of casualties) the show's writers kept in production offices. --Ellen A. Kim

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The Phantom of the Opera (Widescreen Edition)

Sales Rank:367
List Price: $12.98
Lowest New Price: $3.87
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Format:

AC-3
Closed-captioned
Color
Dolby
Dubbed
DVD-Video
Subtitled
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Gerard Butler
Emmy Rossum
Patrick Wilson
Miranda Richardson
Minnie Driver

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NCIS Naval Criminal Investigative Service - The Fifth Season

Sales Rank:366
List Price: $55.98
Lowest New Price: $38.99
Lowest Used Price: $49.85
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

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NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Describing season four of NCIS as "the season of secrets," executive producer Shane Brennan suggests that season five (offered here with 18 episodes, including a two-part finale, on five discs) is "the season of answers." For the most part, that’s true--but at season’s end, loyal viewers are likely to be thrown for a loop by the death of a major character and a startling set of changes bound to have a profound effect on the show’s future. Picking up where the previous year left off, this new batch jumps right in with a continuation of Special Agent Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and company’s pursuit of notorious international arms dealer La Grenouille ("The Frog," played by Armand Assante), whom NCIS director Jenny Shepard (Lauren Holly) is particularly keen on taking down--a quest that’s complicated by the fact that the bad guy is a CIA asset, and by Agent Anthony DiNozzo’s (Michael Weatherly) love affair with La Grenouille’s daughter. That storyline, barely touched on thereafter, is resolved in the 14th episode, "Internal Affairs." Meanwhile, the NCIS crew is distracted by an array of other cases, most of them involving murder. Of particular interest are several episodes related to Iraq and the War on Terror: a Naval officer of Syrian descent who’s suspected of being an Al Qaeda mole is murdered seconds after Gibbs talks him out of jumping off a building ledge; a Marine who’s having a violent bout of post-traumatic stress after returning from the Mideast turns out to be far worse off than that; Medical Examiner Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum) refuses to conduct an autopsy because of the deceased’s Muslim beliefs.

There’s no doubt that NCIS is slick, entertaining prime-time television in every respect: writing, acting, production values, music, and so on. Still, one’s appreciation of the show largely depends on the characters’ likeability, and that’s very much a matter of taste. Gibbs may be a chick magnet, with four former wives and a past relationship with Shepard to prove it, but he’s also a taciturn fellow with horrible social skills. DiNozzo’s funny and insouciant, but his smugness and incessant razzing of computer nerd Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) soon becomes tiresome, while Shepard is steely and simply unlikeable (the most appealing characters are arguably McCallum’s Mallard and Pauley Perrette’s mouthy Abby Sciuto, the goth-like forensic expert). Bonus material includes cast and crew commentary on various episodes and a typical assortment of featurettes. --Sam Graham

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The Ultimate Gift

Sales Rank:271
List Price: $14.98
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Format:

AC-3
Color
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Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Drew Fuller
James Garner
Ali Hillis
Abigail Breslin
Lee Meriwether

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